PRAGUE, Oct 23 (AFP)
-- Oskar Schindler, who
saved 1,200 Jews during World War II, was a spy for the Nazi
intelligence service, the Abwehr, according to a Czech
historian.

In an interview with AFP, Radoslav
Fikejz -- the author of a biography of Schindler --
painted a no-frills picture of the then-agent as a lover of women,
money, alcohol and racing cars.

Born on March 28, 1908, in the Sudetenland village of
Svitavy (then known as Zwittau) Schindler was charged with setting
up spy network among the three million Germans of the Sudetenland
region for the Abwehr, headed by Admiral Wilhelm
Canaris.

The then Czecheslovak authorities were quick to identify
Schindler as a spy. He was arrested and imprisoned for a month in
1938 shortly before Hitler's annexation
of Sudetenland, according to historical documents quoted by
Fikejz.

As an Abwehr spy Schindler's links
with the Nazi command structure allowed him to save Israeli
workers from the death camps, explained Fikejz.

"But he was not simply the kind Nazi who loved the Jews as
portrayed in Steven Spielberg's film
'Schindler's List,'" he said.

The 26-year-old historian -- a graduate of Brno University
-- is fascinated by Schindler, with whom he shares his birthplace.
His biography is called "Oskar
Schindler: 1908-1974."